OMEGA 8 - CSILLAGOK ÚTJÁN

Finally, with their eighth Hungarian album OMEGA reached the peak of their space/prog achievements. Forget about the cover image where the band members wear horrible glittering garment in the vein of ABBA or BEE GEES! Just listen to the music.

Production is very good and probably for the first time OMEGA knew how to make a strong album without often poor heavy rock fillers. The opening notes of Nytany with Beethoven's 5th suggests more symphonic influences than on earlier albums. Benko's keyboards are excellent and provide rich sound palette and space/psychedelic sensation, while Molnar shows that he knows how to add tasty and effective guitar solo spices.

The album is rich with ideas and almost every composition is different from another one, but all together they make a fine and coherent work. If there is need to single out better moments, let's point out a beautifully performed Lena with its Russian winter themes and lovely balalaika strings. Legy eros is another fine and melodic prog ballad with wonderful guitar solo resembling David Gilmour influences. In the similar manner continues another FLOYD-esque space ballad Bibor holgy with excellent drums and weeping guitar.

Instead of bad habit of including rather poor heavy rock songs as fillers in almost all previous albums, the title song Csillagok utjan is excellent hard rocker almost close to metal, with irresistable power riff. It reminds me of the later well known hit of Yugoslav/Croatian heavy rock giants ATOMSKO SKLONISTE. Along with classic Tuzvihar from the second album, it is the best heavy rock moment of OMEGA.

Csillagok utjan or Omega 8 is in my opinion the best OMEGA album in every sense and, although it is hard to pronounce it a masterpiece right away, it is well recommended to people who don't mind listening and exploring non-English progresive rock of the 1970s!

PERSONAL RATING: 4,5/5

P.A. RATING: 4/5